You can't script this stuff. Baseball is that way, right?" -- Jason Grilli

NEW YORK — Two years ago this week, Jason Grilli was still an IronPig. And that said it all.

He had a 1.93 ERA as a reliever in Lehigh Valley, which ranked among the best in Triple A. He was finally healthy and starting to convince scouts that he could live up to that promise that made him the fourth overall pick out of Seton Hall in the 1997 entry draft. He felt close to a breakthrough.

Still: He was an IronPig.

"Who wants to be an IronPig?" he asked with a laugh at Citi Field this week. "Not me."

Not him. Not anyone. But Grilli can recognize now that the journey has made his tale even better. He has gone from IronPig to All-Star, from a broken-down pitcher who looked like he was hanging onto a dream for too long to one of the best stories in Major League Baseball this summer.

So yes, he was having a hard time processing all of that this week, because it did seem too good to be true. It was one thing to finally get here, after major reconstructive surgery on his elbow and his knee led him to wear eight different uniforms in the majors over the past 13 years.

It is another to get here, at an All-Star Game, within driving distance for his family, in Syracuse, N.Y., and Long Island, and just a few miles across the river from his college in South Orange.

"You can’t script this stuff. Baseball is that way, right?" Grilli said "All my family, it’s easy for them to come down, and being close to where I went to school, it’s a wonderful place to have it."

That the game became an "Italian wedding" for Grilli, with ticket requests and hotel demands, was not a problem. He is 36 now, one of a record 39 first-time All-Stars at Citi Field, but the only one with enough twists and hardship for five careers.

He was the Matt Harvey of his day, a can’t-miss starting pitcher who once struck out 18 in a game for Seton Hall. The fourth-overall pick got a $1.8 million signing bonus from the Giants and made his major-league debut with the Marlins after just two seasons in the minors, although he didn’t stay on the fast track for long.

Grilli never found the right organization at the right time, and timing is so important in baseball. He was an Albuquerque Isotope and a Toledo Mud Hen, a "resilient arm," to borrow the words of Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who made 57 appearances for Detroit in 2007.

Then he was off to Colorado ... and to Texas ... and to Cleveland. He was fighting for a spot on the 2010 Indians roster in spring training when he a misstep during a running drill cause a devastating injury. His kneecap shifted, causing a thick bone chip to cut through his quadriceps muscle.

He thought he was done. He thought that a lot. But then, during physical therapy, he met a young soccer player named Bree McMahon who had lost her left leg in a freak car accident. He calls her his angel, because "seeing what she was going through in physical therapy every day made me realize I could get through mine."

He recovered and signed with the Phillies, which he figured would be the last stop in his baseball odyssey. He was 34 and an IronPig, wondering when — if? — he’d get another shot.

It came when a Pittsburgh scout named Marc DelPiano saw him throw a pair of perfect innings two years ago this week. Philadelphia granted him his release, and while no one could have imagined it then, the Pirates had just found a closer for what would become a playoff contender.

"I used to always just say, ‘Hey, I hope I can get my name on the ballot," Grilli said. "It’s emotional, man. I’ve been through a lot. I’ve worked my butt to get here. To finally be selected, it’s a personal victory."

He wants more that this. Grilli couldn’t help but touch the Mets’ two championship trophies as he walked through Citi Field on Monday. The idea that the Pirates, a doormat for decades, could win the World Series would’ve seemed unthinkable a few months ago.

Jason Grilli, from IronPig to All-Star, knows a thing or two about improbable stories.